


Second Chance

by syriala



Series: Stalion Week 2018 [3]
Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Alive Hale Family, Background Relationships, Fix-It, Getting Together, M/M, Magical Stiles Stilinski, Mates, Past Character Death, Time Travel
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-21
Updated: 2018-06-21
Packaged: 2019-05-26 12:09:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,612
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15000578
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/syriala/pseuds/syriala
Summary: “Scott and Lydia found a time travel spell,” Peter immediately told him and going by the glare Scott sent his way, he hadn’t wanted Stiles to know.“Time travel?” Stiles asked, confusion obvious in his voice.“He’s going to send someone back in time, to prevent everything,” Peter explained and finally the penny dropped for Stiles.He could get Deucalion back.“When are we getting started, then?” Stiles asked and finally dropped the blanket around he still had around his shoulders.He had more important things to do than to keep pretending this little barrier could protect him from things that already ripped him apart.





	Second Chance

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [The Only Way](https://archiveofourown.org/works/14574054) by [syriala](https://archiveofourown.org/users/syriala/pseuds/syriala). 



> This was written for Stalion Appreciation Week, Day 5, Time Travel.
> 
> Time travel means I get to fix the very sad character death SOMEONE dared me to write, right? That's what I did, because surprisingly enough I do not enjoy killing the characters I love.

“What the fuck do you think you’re doing?” Peter asked Scott and he sounded angry.

Angry enough to jolt Stiles out of his thoughts, but not so much to worry Stiles enough to turn around and participate in whatever was going on.

Caring about things was still hard for Stiles.

“I have a plan,” Scott defended himself and Stiles frowned.

He hadn’t heard about any plan, didn’t even know if there was a new threat in town, but he was still too much in shock to care. He was sure at this point it should have worn off, but then again no one really knew how one would react to a broken mate bond.

“And what? You don’t think he should get a chance? You want him to perform the spell and tell him he can’t try to make it all right?” Peter spit out and Stiles could almost feel how uncomfortable Scott was.

“I’m trying to keep him safe,” Scott protested and at that Stiles finally got up and walked out into the living room.

“What’s going on?” he asked, blanket still wrapped around his shoulders.

Everyone in the room turned towards him, and Stiles hunched in on himself, too many eyes on him all at once.

“Scott and Lydia found a time travel spell,” Peter immediately told him and going by the glare Scott sent his way, he hadn’t wanted Stiles to know.

“Time travel?” Stiles asked, confusion obvious in his voice.

“He’s going to send someone back in time, to prevent everything,” Peter explained and finally the penny dropped for Stiles.

“Deuc,” he whispered and Peter nodded.

“We could send you back far enough to protect him from Gerard. To stop Ennis from biting Paige too,” Peter said with a quick look at Derek.

“Stop it,” Scott hissed at Peter.

“Why?” Stiles asked, because these were literally the best news he had heard in a long time.

“I didn’t want you to know,” Scott said to him. “You’re still so…” Scott trailed off here, obviously looking for the right word and Stiles knew how everyone had looked at him the last few days.

“You look at me like I’m weak, fragile. Like I’m broken,” Stiles filled in for him and at least Scott had the decency to look guilty.

“You’ve had a hard time,” Scott tried, and Stiles scoffed at him.

“Damn right, I had. And you’re trying to keep it hard for longer than it apparently needs to be,” Stiles spat out.

“Stiles,” Peter interjected and came closer to him. “I know right now you only see that you can get Deucalion back. And you might be able to save him, to protect him form Gerard and change his future. But I need you to understand that the mate concept is fickle, and fragile,” Peter told him and waited for Stiles to look at him before he continued.

“You can meet your mate again and again over the course of several years and until it’s right for both of you, the bond won’t come into existence. You might suspect that they are your mate, but unless it’s mutual, until you’re both at a point in your life where it is right, you won’t know for certain.”

“What are you saying?” Stiles asked and unconsciously brought his hand up to the mating bite Deucalion had left on him, at the base of his throat, where neck met shoulder.

“I’m saying that he might not recognize you as his mate,” Peter softly said. “It might not be the right time for him; he might not recognize you when you’re this age and he’s not.”

“But he could,” Stiles whispered. “It could still happen.”

“Maybe,” Peter agreed. “It might. It might not. I need you to be prepared for that.”

“But I could have it again. I could have a second chance with my mate,” Stiles stated.

Peter’s eyes briefly flickered over to Chris, who was watching them avidly, just like the rest of them, but he didn’t seem to notice Peter’s silent admission.

“Second chances are rare,” Peter whispered, and Stiles could see how much it pained him to admit that.

“But not impossible,” and that was all Stiles really needed.

Even the spark of hope was enough for him to finally be more aware of the things around him. And even if Deucalion didn’t recognize him as his mate; he would still be alive and that would be enough for Stiles, too.

“I can perform the spell, right?” he wanted to know and while Scott shook his head, Peter nodded.

“When are we getting started, then?” Stiles asked and finally dropped the blanket around he still had around his shoulders.

He had more important things to do than to keep pretending this little barrier could protect him from things that already ripped him apart.

~*~*~

They could decide the place where Stiles would show up in the past, right in front of the Hale house, but they couldn’t make the time just as accurate.

Stiles just hoped he wasn’t too late to keep Deucalion safe from Gerard.

The burned-out Hale house transformed between one blink and the next and then a young woman was coming out to meet him.

Stiles could see the confusion on her face, but he didn’t have time for this.

“I need to speak to Alpha Talia Hale,” Stiles declared, making sure the woman, probably Laura, knew that it was important.

Talia came out of the house a second later, as if she was summoned by his declaration, and Stiles refused to feel relieved yet. There was still too much on the line.

“I can’t proof it right now, but you can hear my heartbeat and know that I’m telling the truth. I’m from the future, and I need you to trust me, at least for the moment,” Stiles said and Talia’s eyebrows shot up.

Stiles had a split second to marvel at the fact that the whole family apparently had mad eyebrow game, before Talia spoke and demanded his attention.

“And what would I need to trust you with?” she asked before she stepped closer and actively sniffed him.

“You smell like my brother,” she said, sounding confused about that.

“We know each other in the future,” Stiles offhandedly said, while he tried to get his thoughts in order. He needed to know what had already happened.

“How is Paige?” he asked and going by the way Talia frowned at him she had no clue who she even was.

Still alive then.

He turned to Laura, hoping that she knew a bit more than Talia and something on his face must have convinced her that it was important.

“I think Derek went to meet her at the school,” she said and Stiles grabbed her arm.

“Ennis is going to bite her and she will reject the bite.” He turned towards Talia. “She will die and Derek won’t let her have a painful death,” he imploringly said and Talia hesitated a split second before she nodded.

“We’ll go and stop that,” she said but Stiles shook his head.

“No, I need you to tell me where Deucalion is right now,” he said and his heart started to beat faster just at the thought of Deucalion being alive right now.

“He is meeting with Gerard,” Talia told him and Stiles could feel himself blanche.

“Then I need you to come with me, lead me there. Gerard is going to kill everyone there, and then blind Deucalion. He will burn the sanity right out of him,” Stiles quickly explained and his voice shook just a little bit at the thought of what Deuc might be enduring right now.

Talia regarded him for a moment, before she turned to Laura.

“Go to the school, see if you can stop Ennis. Remind him that this is _my_ territory. Take Joseph with you. I’ll take Peter and this young man to the old distillery.”

Laura nodded once, and another man appeared as if summoned.

Stiles suspected it to be Joseph and he and Laura didn’t waste any more time before they left, running towards the town.

“Peter,” Talia evenly said, barely raising her voice but a few seconds later, a young man stepped out of the house.

“You called?” he asked, disdain clear in his voice and Stiles had to suppress a snort.

Peter hadn’t changed all that much growing up, as it seemed.

Talia threw him another glance, but Stiles had no time to go into any detail here.

Time was of the essence after all.

“Please,” he said. “We need to go. Right now.”

Peter frowned at him, but Talia simply nodded.

“Get in the car with Peter. Peter, to the old distillery, now,” she ordered and Peter seemed like he wanted to protest, but Talia flashed her eyes at him and he went without another word.

Stiles could tell that Peter had a lot of questions, he supposed that would never change about him, but Stiles crossed his arms in front of his chest, nervously tapping his fingers and staring out of the window.

He was in no mood to answer any questions, and he hoped that it translated through his scent and behaviour.

“You’re mated.”

Evidently it didn’t translate very well. Or Peter did just not care, which was far more likely. Mates weren’t unheard of, but still rare enough to instill some questions, at least in Peter it seemed.

“Was,” Stiles choked out, and he realized that it was the first time he ever had to actually say it out loud.

In his time everyone who was involved in the supernatural, and who knew him, knew about what had happened to Deucalion. What Stiles had to do.

Peter was apparently taken aback by whatever he smelled on Stiles because he didn’t ask any more questions until they came to a stop in front of the distillery.

The doors where half closed, and Stiles could see that the meeting was already taking place.

Stiles almost fell out of the car in his haste to get inside, to protect Deucalion, and Peter was only a step behind him.

“Wait,” he tried to stop Stiles, but Stiles could already see Deucalion and he wouldn’t stop now.

Nothing could stop him from saving his mate. Not again.

Stiles rushed inside, almost stumbling over his own feet, until he came to a halt, in front of Deucalion and facing Gerard.

Everything in Stiles screamed to turn around and finally be reunited with his mate, but he kept facing Gerard.

He was the threat at the moment, the reunion could come afterwards.

Right now it was more important that Stiles didn’t allow Gerard to go through with his plan.

“What the hell is going on?” Gerard demanded to know, and he glanced over Stiles, fixing his gaze on Deucalion and Peter, when he entered too.

“Who is this boy?” Gerard went on and Stiles could hear the other wolves behind him, shuffling around in confusion, but before he could explain anything, Talia arrived.

“I think this meeting is over,” Talia said, cold as anything, stepping up to Stiles and moving slightly in front of him.

“Talia,” Deucalion hissed behind her and Stiles almost went weak in the knees at his voice.

It had been so long since he had heard it and nothing in the world could have prepared him for ever hearing it again.

“It came to my attention that Gerard might not be sincere in his proposal for peace,” Talia said, and Stiles could feel Deucalion stiffen behind him.

“How dare you,” Gerard spat out and the hate was obvious in his whole mannerism.

“Please,” Talia scoffed. “We all know how you feel towards us. But I have proof,” she said, turning slightly towards Stiles, who squared his shoulders and took one step forward.

He had heard all about the attack from Deucalion one night, and he just hoped that the horrific details he had learned during that conversation would now spare this Deucalion the same pain. That he wouldn’t betray the trust Talia showed him right now.

“There’s wolfsbane infused gas in this container,” he said and pointed to his left. “Gerard has a bat, spiked with werewolf teeth and claws right there.”

Talia nodded at Peter, who carefully edged around the hunters, to look for the weapon.

He found it exactly where Stiles had pointed too and when he pulled it out a whisper broke out amongst the hunters and wolves alike.

“The gas?” Deucalion asked and Peter carefully turned the wheel a bit, allowing only a little bit of gas to escape, but going by his violent recoil it was just as poisonous as Stiles had said.

“What is the meaning of this?” Deucalion asked and he took a few steps forward, coming to a stop next to Stiles and Talia.

Stiles stiffened, his whole body felt electrified at the proximity to his mate, but he stubbornly stayed in place. Deucalion didn’t know him; they were still in a hostile situation and now was definitely not the time to reach out for him.

“He wanted to incapacitate you and your pack,” Stiles quietly said without looking at Deucalion. “Then he would have killed his own hunters, to make it appear like they were attacked by you, before killing your pack as well. His plan was to burn your vision of peace right out of you.”

Something ugly and hateful passed over Gerard’s face and he lunged forward, clearly aiming for Stiles.

It was a reckless, stupid move, he had no weapons and no one was aiding him, and Talia and Deucalion were both quickly stepping in the way to shield Stiles, but Stiles still stumbled back.

He was reminded of the night in Gerard’s basement; a sense of helplessness washing over him even though he knew this situation was nothing like that.

He had a whole pack of wolves at his side here, after all.

Talia was quick to intercept Gerard, grabbing him at the throat and lifting him up.

“This was supposed to be a peace meeting and you wanted to turn it into an act of war. There is only one sentence that can be passed,” Talia evenly said and didn’t seem to notice how Gerard struggled in her hold.

Stiles carefully eyed the other hunters, prepared for one of them to come to Gerard’s help, but none of them moved a muscle. Stiles could see a few who looked at Gerard with disdain; apparently they had come in the belief of making peace themselves and they weren’t pleased with Gerard.

Stiles couldn’t say that he minded.

Gerard struggled for a few moments longer, before Talia tightened her grip and cleanly snapped his neck.

The sound resonated in the sudden silence and while it made Stiles flinch, he was profoundly glad that Talia hadn’t used her claws on Gerard.

Going by what the Argent clan had survived in his timeline, death by claws would have turned Gerard as much as it had Kate. Stiles was grateful they didn’t have to find out what Gerard would turn into.

“Is there anyone among you who has the authority to form a treaty?” Talia asked but the hunters stayed quiet.

“Chris Argent,” Stiles whispered, briefly glancing over to Peter.

Peter might have missed his first and second chance in Stiles’ timeline, but maybe he could set it right here. Plus, really, Chris was the only one sane enough to bring a resemblance of peace to the two fractions.

Going by the look on Peter’s face they were already in the middle of their first chance. Stiles just hoped that this time it would work out.

“The Argents are a matriarchy, much like we are,” Talia replied. “We should talk with Kate.”

“You really shouldn’t,” Stiles quickly gave back. “She hates you as much as Gerard does. She is going to burn your house down and kill you all if you give her the chance.”

“Are you gifted with the sight?” Deucalion asked and Stiles turned towards him but he kept his eyes down, not ready to really look at him, not ready to know if Deucalion recognized him as mate or not.

“Something like that,” Stiles vaguely said and Deucalion hummed thoughtfully.

“Chris is honorable, he keeps to the code. Talk to him,” Stiles said to Talia again. “And take Peter if you do so,” he quickly added.

Talia solemnly regarded him for a few seconds, and Stiles thought she would brush him off, but eventually she nodded.

“Alright.” She then turned her focus on Deucalion and her whole demeanor suddenly changed. “I’m not going to say ‘I told you so’, but we did warn you,” she said with a little wink and Stiles was taken aback.

This was so far from the regal, in control alpha she had just been a second ago that it almost gave Stiles whiplash, but apparently it was no surprise to Deucalion, who huffed in amusement.

“Fine,” he agreed. “You did warn me. But now you’re involved in the process, so who is the winner here,” he easily gave back and Stiles could see the admiration Deucalion held for Talia in his eyes.

Still, Deucalion’s eyes kept flitting over to Stiles, as if he couldn’t quite keep them on Talia, and Stiles hoped, prayed, that it was because he could feel the potential for mate, just like Stiles could, but there was no recognition of any kind in Deucalion’s eyes.

Stiles thought he had gotten used to the pain, it had been all compassing those first few days after all, but now he realized that he was wrong.

The pain swept through him again, reminding him that his mate bond was still broken, the bite on his throat tingling like it wanted to remind him that it was still just a useless remnant of better times and Stiles almost choked on a sob.

He abruptly turned around, leaving the distillery and Deucalion behind.

Stiles had been stupid to come here, he realized that now. He might have saved Deucalion and the Hale’s but he was still alone. Even more so than before, because he had nothing here. No family, no friends and apparently no mate.

But now he also had to face Deucalion, knowing that Deuc would never again look at him with love, his face soft and always reaching out for Stiles and it nearly broke him apart all over again.

Stiles started to walk, intent on just leaving everything behind, vanishing into the world, but he was barely a few minutes away from the distillery when Peter appeared at his side.

“Talia said she wants you at the house,” he explained and Stiles briefly closed his eyes.

Of course there was no escape.

“How do you know about Chris and me?” Peter asked him lowly, careful of the wolves and their enhanced hearing.

“I travelled back in time,” Stiles said, nodding at Peter’s incredulous look. “It didn’t turn out so well in my time, for no one.”

Stiles stopped mid step, grabbing Peter’s arms and forcing him to look at him.

“He’s your mate,” he imploringly said. “Don’t let him get away.”

“Like you let your mate get away?” Peter asked and while Stiles identified it as the defense mechanism it was, it hurt, it hurt so much.

“I didn’t let him get away,” Stiles whispered, voice raw with hurt. “He was taken from me.”

“And who would do something like that?” Peter contemplatively asked.

“I did,” Stiles pressed out.

He had never said it out loud, never gave voice to the fact that he had been the one to kill Deucalion, and even though some had suggested that acknowledging the fact might help Stiles come to term with things, it did nothing but cut him open all over again.

Peter stared at him, confusion and sudden mistrust all over his face and Stiles walked just a bit faster, to escape that look.

“Why would you do something like that? It obviously hurts you,” Peter wanted to know and fell into step next to Stiles again.

“Of course it does,” Stiles snapped and took a shaking breath. “Deucalion was… we ran into a witch with a grudge. She stripped him of his humanity, leaving only the wolf behind. And in my world no one was there to protect Deucalion today. After this he went mad with pain and grief, killed his pack and then slaughtered many others. His wolf wasn’t in his right mind, either.”

“And when he lost his human mind he went feral,” Peter filled in, not even surprised at the admission that Deucalion was his mate. “Attacking everyone and everything he saw as a threat. Except you.”

“Except me,” Stiles agreed bitterly and flexed his hand, still feeling the blood rush over it.

“I’m sorry,” Peter lowly said and Stiles squared his shoulders. “That must have been a shitty situation for you,” Peter went on and Stiles didn’t even bother to agree.

“Why didn’t you stay there?” Peter inquired with a slight nod of his head back towards the distillery. “If you lost him in your time, why not stay, get him back here?”

“He doesn’t know me as his mate,” Stiles tonelessly said. “Here I’m just a strange guy who knows more than he should. He recognized me immediately in my time. The first time we met, we barely did more than lock gazes once, and yet he knew. He didn’t know here,” Stiles weakly finished, afraid that he would start crying if he kept talking about this.

He had to cling to what Peter had told him in his time; that maybe the time just wasn’t right, and that Deucalion would come to recognize him as his mate. But if Stiles took into consideration just how different this Deucalion would be from the one that he had met, it was rather unlikely that this would work out for him.

~*~*~

Stiles had spent the evening and well into the night telling Talia and her family all about his time, describing all the horrible things that had happened to him and his family and friends and when Talia was finally satisfied, and Stiles had nothing left to retell, he fell into the bed they provided him with and was asleep before his head even hit the pillow.

Stiles woke up when Peter wouldn’t stop shaking his shoulder.

“You need to get up right now,” he said, going by the amount of irritation in his voice, not for the first time.

“Ngh,” Stiles got out and was fully prepared to let sleep claim him once again.

“Deucalion is here,” Peter said and that woke Stiles right up.

“Why?” he asked, sitting up and rubbing his eyes and barely caught Peter shrugging.

“I don’t know. He’s wants to talk to Talia, and she’s letting him wait. I think she’s quite displeased that Deucalion didn’t listen to her and went to meet Gerard and that she had to clean up the mess.”

“Excuse me, I cleaned up the mess,” Stiles protested and Peter raised an eyebrow.

“I mean the literal mess, you know. The dead body and all. And now she’s involved with the Argents which she never wanted.”

“Good that you’re all the more eager to be involved with them then, right?” Stiles cheekily asked and almost laughed when Peter lightly punched his shoulder.

Comradery between them came much easier than with the Peter from Stiles’ own time, but then again, this one wasn’t burned and jaded.

“She’s not going to invite Deucalion in without knowing what he wants, so you better get dressed fast,” Peter then told him, serious again.

Stiles scrambled up to get dressed, eager to see Deucalion again, while dreading it at the same time.

He suspected this would be a mix of emotions he would need to get used to, and fast, if he wanted this to stop hurting him.

Stiles threw on some clothes and then followed Peter down the stairs, keeping just out of sight of Deucalion and Talia who had finally deigned to grace him with her presence, but Stiles was under no illusion that they all knew they were there.

Deucalion briefly glanced over in their direction but then he focused on Talia.

“I’m here to ask permission to court one of your betas,” Deucalion declared and Stiles’ face fell.

Peter was immediately at his side, resting a comforting hand on his arm, but the words rang in Stiles ears.

Of course Deucalion would have another mate in this time.

That was just the luck Stiles had, apparently.

“Which one?” Talia asked, and she sounded surprised.

“The young man who came to our rescue yesterday. I’m afraid I didn’t quite catch his name,” Deucalion easily gave back, looking straight at Stiles this time.

“Stiles?” Talia asked, turning around to wink him in. “He’s not one of my betas,” she informed Deucalion with a small smile. “There’s no need for a formal courting. If you think he’s your mate, you don’t need my approval.”

“I’m very glad to hear it,” Deucalion gave back, smiling at Stiles as he stepped forward. “Now I just need your approval.”

He had walked steadily closer to Stiles but when his gaze fell on his neck he suddenly stopped dead in his tracks.

“You’re already mated,” Deucalion stated, eyes fixed on the bite on Stiles’ throat and he seemed heartbroken at the prospect that Stiles already belonged to someone else.

Stiles hand flew up to cover the bite, when he remembered that there was really no reason to hide anything from Deucalion.

“I’m from the future,” Stiles blurted out and confusion crossed Deucalion’s face at this apparent non-sequitur.

“What ever does that mean?” he politely asked, already taking a step back, as if he didn’t want to offend Stiles or his mate by too much proximity, appearing too familiar with someone who was already taken.

“I was mated to you,” Stiles quickly said, wanting to get this misunderstanding out of the world before it could fully take form and also wanting to prevent Deucalion getting further away from him.

He was sick of not being with his mate.

“Was?” Deucalion asked and he regarded Stiles carefully. “What happened?”

“You died,” Stiles simply said, too emotionally exhausted to go into deeper detail right now.

“Oh sweetheart,” Deucalion said with compassion, and Stiles went just a little weak in the knees at the endearment. “It wasn’t quite that easy, was it?” Deucalion softly asked.

“No,” Stiles shakily agreed, tears gathering in his eyes and when Deucalion reached out to cup his cheek, they spilled over.

“Dear boy,” Deucalion whispered and Stiles nuzzled into his hand.

“I missed you,” Stiles breathed out. “I love you.”

“And I’m going to love you too, darling,” Deucalion easily gave back, as if that was an outcome that was unavoidable.

He pulled Stiles close, only needing the barest amount of force before Stiles was almost crushing into his chest, arms going around Deucalion an instant later.

Stiles breathed in deep, and while he was still painfully aware that this wasn’t the Deucalion he knew, he still smelled almost the same.

It settled something deep inside of Stiles and suddenly he felt lighter than he had in weeks.

“I got you now, my darling boy,” Deucalion whispered and pressed a soft kiss to Stiles’ hair.

Stiles knew that there were things they needed to talk about, that it would be different this time around, but right now Stiles couldn’t imagine a place where he’d rather be other than in the arms of his mate.


End file.
